Sixty years later, the foundation has net assets of more than $69 million and last year distributed nearly $5.5 million in grants through more than 500 different funds.
Now, in celebration of the anniversary, the HCF announced last week special contributions totaling $60,000 to various social agencies.
“It’s like manna from heaven,” said Maj. Wilder Garcia of the Salvation Army in Hamilton, which received $10,000 of that special allocation. “The foundation has been a regular contributor through the years and it’s been very good.”
“We believe in lifting up the entire future of the community through strategic support of economic development, educational opportunities, and quality of life through arts, culture, health, and recreation,” said board Chairman Mike Dingeldein.
In deciding where to distribute the funds, the board looks at immediate needs of food, shelter and emergency financial assistance, said spokesperson Bernadette Zimmerman.
In addition the Salvation Army, these grants were awarded:
• $12,500 to Serve City;
• $7,500 to Haven House;
• $10,000 Emergency Money Fund;
• $20,000 to the JournalNews Food Relief Campaign for Shared Harvest FoodBank;
• $25,000 for Great Miami Valley YMCA’s Operation Splash Program, which provides to 100 disadvantaged youth in grade K-6 from four Hamilton elementary schools;
• $15,000 to SELF’s Microenterprise and Microloan Program to implement a program in conjunction with BizTech and Neighborhood Housing Services that will allow low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs in the Hamilton area to successfully open small businesses.
• $15,000 to People Working Cooperatively’s Emergency Home Repair Program for low-income homeowners in Hamilton. The program is designed to ensure that low-income homeowners live in safe and secure homes and that the affordable housing stock in Hamilton is maintained.
Guidugli, who has been at the helm of the foundation for 12 years, said that what attracted him to the job was the foundation’s “ability to have a major impact in so many aspects of the community.
“At the same time, we work on educational programs, economic development programs and work on bringing groups together to work collaboratively on other projects.
“There’s never a dull moment, but a lot of good stuff comes from what we do.”
The foundation came on the wave of a statewide movement of similar organizations that started in Cleveland, when Frederick H. Goff created “a pool of charitable resources of Cleveland’s philanthropists, living and dead, into a single, great and permanent endowment for the city,” Guidugli said.
“This concept of a community foundation was transformational,” he said. “Instead of having many small trusts with many different purposes working independently, this creation allowed a community’s philanthropic resources to be combined with the goal of enhancing their effectiveness and efficiency.”
The leading force behind the HCF was Otis Briggs, executive director of the local United Way, who brought together Cyrus Fitton, Murstein, Huntington Parrish, Fredrick Reister, Robert Sohngen and William Wolf to be the first board of directors.
“I like to think they understood that the entity they were creating should last forever and be able to support the community forever,” Guidugli said. “I think they’d be surprised today at the reaction of the community. In 1951, Hamilton was a vibrant community, so I think they’d be concerned about how things have changed, with some excitement about how the foundation has grown and become such a force for the community.”
For more information, contact the Hamilton Community Foundation by calling (513) 863-1717, or visit the HCF website at www.hamiltonfoundation.org.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.
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